Left Behind
by Candaru
Summary: Princess Harumi is upset about being left behind on the Destiny's Bounty while everyone else goes off on a mission. Well... almost everyone, that is: someone else is left behind on the ship, too. And they get along with Harumi better than one might expect. (Oneshot, no slash. Rated T for safety. Spoilers for S8, E3!)


(A/N: #When the newest episode of Ninjago is SO GOOD that you gotta write a oneshot for it! X'3 HUGE MAJOR SPOILERS for Ninjago S8, E3 [the Dragon and the Oni]!) (Also is acting up a ton so if there are weird glitches in this, sorry XP)

* * *

"P.I.X.A.L., watch over Rumi!" Lloyd instructed to the main computer of the Destiny's Bounty. He and the other ninja started to run to the edge of the ship, ready to launch themselves into combat.

"My apologies, Princess," a robotic-sounding voice said quietly, but it wasn't noticed. Princess Harumi had already started to follow the others, an angry glare on her face.

"I can handle myself," she insisted, her fists tightening in anger. She watched as Nya the water ninja turned and gave her a sympathetic glance while she ran.

"I know how it feels," Nya said, turning in front of Harumi to block her, "but Lloyd's right. Our first order is to protect you." She hastily made her way down the steps as the white-haired girl's expression softened somewhat. She knew the others were doing everything in their power to make her feel at home as well as keep her safe. But she still hated feeling powerless. She sighed and looked down over the rail of the ship as it descended closer to the ground, giving the ninja a clearer shot of the city.

"Ready, ninja?" She heard Lloyd's voice call. "Go!" And with that, all that remained of her company was left behind in three colorful streaks left behind by the free-falling ninja. (Nya, adorned in mostly gray, wasn't really visible in the night.)

Harumi sighed again and started to head back inside. There was no point in waiting out for them— they'd probably be caught up in some big, exciting battle for at least a while.

"This place is so boring," she muttered under her breath, although she immediately felt bad for dissing the temporary home that she'd been so graciously provided.

"Try being stuck in a computer screen," a voice behind her said. Harumi yelped and spun around.

"O-oh, PIXAL, I forgot you were here!" she exclaimed. "You scared me half to death."

"My apologies," the voice replied, sounding as calm and collected as ever. There was a pause, and then it added, "I'm sorry if the ship is not to your liking."

Harumi felt a blush rising to her cheeks. "Oh, gosh, I didn't— please don't tell the ninja I said that," she pleaded. "I'm really sorry. I just—"

"No," the voice interrupted, "I understand. It must be difficult for you to adjust. So much has happened in so little time."

The princess sighed and sat on the floor in a very non-princess-like manner. "Yea…" She shook her head and reprimanded herself silently for being so rude. "But I'm very grateful to even be alive. The others have done so much for me."

There was a long pause and for a moment, Harumi wondered if the AI had left. Was that even possible?

"If you are bored," the voice suddenly offered, "I can show you a feed of what's happening through Zane's visuals."

Harumi blinked, startled. "I thought you said he cut off all communication?"

There was a pause and then what almost sounded like a suppressed laugh coming from the monitors. "My apologies for that as well. In order for Zane's plan to work, he had to keep the others in the dark. He knew Kai would grow impatient and lead the rest of the team out to the battle. He asked me to feign inability to communicate with him, so I did."

The jade princess' jaw practically dropped to the floor. "You're kidding!"

"I assure you, I was not programmed to use sarcasm."

Harumi couldn't tell if _that_ was a joke or not, but she decided not to comment. "So… you can really show me the battle?"

"There is no battle happening yet," P.I.X.A.L. said, "but if one starts, I will put Zane's visual feed on the screen for you."

"Wow, thanks!" Harumi exclaimed. She was extremely cheered up at the thought of not only having something to watch, but also to be doing something the others didn't know she was doing. She couldn't help it— she'd always had a bit of a rebellious streak. "So… you can see everything Zane sees?"

"I can. It is one of my few comforts," the voice replied.

"Few comforts?" Harumi asked, tilting her head. The body-less voice suddenly became distressed.

"Ah… forgive me. I speak out of turn."

"No, no," the princess said, "you can talk. I want to know what you meant."

There was an audible hesitation, but finally the voice replied: "I… am not quite content in my current situation."

"You're not?" Harumi asked, tilting her head. "I thought you liked helping the ninja. Aren't you an AI?"

"I am an android," the voice replied. "And I am honored to assist, I'm just not exactly thrilled by my… constraints."

"As in… the computer screen?"

There was another long moment of pause. Harumi suddenly became aware of how awkward it was to be unable to see the reason for the silence— she didn't know if P.I.X.A.L. was nodding or shaking her head, shrugging or walking away.

"Yes… I miss my body."

This was news to Harumi. "You mean you haven't always been inside that computer?"

"No. It's a somewhat recent development… although I suppose I must be thankful. At least here I am able to communicate with others besides Zane— not that I mind talking to him." There was a very fond note to the last phrase that made Harumi wonder if there was more to P.I.X.A.L. than the others had told her. Actually, they'd told her very little— just not to freak out when any of the screens in the Bounty talked, because there was a sentient AI inside of them.

"So what was your situation before?" Harumi asked.

"I've been through quite a few," P.I.X.A.L. responded, dodging the question in a way that would make Hutchkins proud. "But my original form was a body that looked like this." Suddenly, an image of a sleek, silver android with purple markings was brought up on the screen.

"Oh," Harumi gasped, looking at the picture. She paused and then smiled. "You were very pretty."

"Thank you," P.I.X.A.L. replied, extremely surprised at the compliment. "I… was never very good at understanding visual aesthetics… although I wanted to." It sounded like she was confiding a secret, which made Harumi feel rather special.

"Well, I think you did a great job, especially if you did all that on your own." She giggled. "Before Mom taught me how to dress like a princess, about all I could do fashion-wise was copy Nya's style using copies of teen magazines I snuck into the palace." She suddenly blushed, wondering why she'd let that spill to someone she hardly even knew.

"Ah, yes… I believe Nya is a rather popular role model for girls nowadays. She is the third most popular known female figurehead in her age range, in fact." The android stated this fact as if she were relaying information about how powerful a weapon was.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Harumi said with a smile. "Nya's the perfect role model. Pretty, but also smart, independent, self-reliant, curious, hard-working…"

"Mm." The robotic voice was disapproving. Harumi stopped talking and raised an eyebrow.

"'Mm?' What's that mean? You don't have a problem with Nya, do you?" She was ready to defend her childhood hero to the death if need be.

"Everything you have stated is factually accurate," P.I.X.A.L. replied cooly. "And I do admire her for that. It is just that the 'independent' and 'self-reliant' parts of Nya's personality come with… drawbacks."

"Such as?" Harumi asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Leaving people behind." The reply was short and to the point… and irrefutable.

"Well… okay, I don't like that she left me," Harumi admitted, casting her gaze downward. "But I do understand that the others want to keep me safe. I just wish that… that they'd recognize that I can stand up for myself! I could protect myself in a battle!"

"You remind me of Master Lloyd," P.I.X.A.L. stated in an amused tone, "when he was young. Not that I was there for his childhood," she amended quickly, "but Zane's memories of him are very similar to how you act now. You two are extremely alike."

"Wait, okay, I'm gonna ignore that comment about me acting like a little kid." Harumi said. "You can see Zane's _memories,_ too? How much of his data can you access?"

"All of it, if I'd like," P.I.X.A.L. responded, "unless he blocks me out, which he rarely does. Sharing a body tends to increase trust levels a _very_ high amount."

"You shared a— _what?!"_ Harumi exclaimed. She was giggling by now at how much she didn't know, and how bizarre everything was. "How did that even work?"

"It is… somewhat complicated. However, the two of us know each other better than any human being could know another," she said proudly. "Some ill-informed common folk do not even consider us to be separate entities. They think I am merely an extension of Zane."

"Wow." Harumi closed her eyes and tried to imagine what that would be like. "I mean… that's awesome, that you guys are so close… but I wouldn't like it if people didn't think I was my own person."

"That," P.I.X.A.L. stated, "is why I would like my own body again. Although…" She paused.

Harumi opened her mouth to ask what she was going to say, but before she could, a video feed suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Zane's just contacted me. You may want to watch this," P.I.X.A.L.'s voice said over the audio of the live recording.

Harumi blinked and decided that whatever she was going to talk about could wait until another time. She turned her attention to the video and smiled.

"…Thanks, P.I.X.A.L."

* * *

(A/N: If something like this doesn't happen in canon while Rumi is left behind on a big mission, I'm gonna throw hands. Also hey look it's my headcanon about PIXAL being salty at Nya! X'D I just... I just have a lot of feels over these gals okay)


End file.
